On International Fact-Checking day, Meedan’s program team members share insights and reflections on our work with partners addressing misinformation in Latin America, North Africa Western Asia and in the Asia Pacific region.
Isabella Barroso, Program Manager, Latin America
It is always impressive and humbling to see journalists work diligently through the massive amount of fake and misleading content they monitor and the multitude of contexts and issues they cover. Having worked with newsrooms in Latin America that are small and big in size, address multiple contexts and issues, here are a few reflections that I would like to share:
Haramoun Hamieh, Program Manager, North Africa Western Asia
In 2020 and 2021, the world witnessed an unprecedented online infodemic directly linked to the COVID-19 pandemic. The infodemic caused multiple waves of misleading information that further contributed to the spread of the disease and a sense of panic among communities, especially in countries suffering from weak media ecosystems and severe political and economic turmoil.
To tackle this problem, the NAWA Newsroom and Investigative Fund teamed up with researchers and journalism students to launch an initiative that specialized in monitoring COVID-related misinformation and disinformation in the region. The Media Credibility Index was born. Developed in collaboration with 5 NAWA newsroom students after receiving specialized training, the Media Credibility Index aims to assess the credibility of news websites in Syria, Yemen and Lebanon. NAWA newsroom students monitored 626 news websites, focusing on analyzing the content of the most viewed websites through an open source investigation, while taking into account algorithmic bias and business models. An interactive map was published along with a major report on the state of media and misinformation during the pandemic in Lebanon, Syria and Yemen.
In 2022, the team expects to expand the credibility index, covering more countries in the region and evaluating the credibility of more media organizations.
Sneha Alexander, Program Associate, Asia Pacific region Shalini Joshi, Program Director, Network and Training
Our Check Global partner Taiwan FactCheck Center (TFC) is committed to producing high-quality fact-checks in the fight against misinformation, as well as to spreading media literacy since its launch in 2018.
Some reflections from our work with TFC:
Read our blogpost sharing insights and a message from Summer Chen, Editor in Chief at Taiwan FactCheck Center, on International fact-checking day.
Megan Marrelli, Senior Program Manager
Meedan’s Digital Health Lab works with partners around the world on supporting safer and more responsible engagement with information online. Our training, policy support, and information product Health Desk are in service of large international newsrooms, local community radio stations, and innovative communicators of critical health information. For international fact-checking day we’re highlighting the work of our partner Tayo Help Desk.
Tayo is a virtual help desk on COVID-19 for the Filipino community, driven by the Filipino Young Leaders Program (FYLPRO). The organization focuses on generating culturally tailored content to proactively combat misinformation through storytelling, visuals and videos.
Some examples:
Tayo is about to launch a call center geared towards Filipino seniors this spring, an initiative that launched after discovering a need to serve readers who would prefer to speak to someone for their COVID-19 questions.
We’re so excited to continue partnering with this organization on health and science communications.
On International Fact-Checking day, Meedan’s program team members share insights and reflections on our work with partners addressing misinformation in Latin America, North Africa Western Asia and in the Asia Pacific region.
Isabella Barroso, Program Manager, Latin America
It is always impressive and humbling to see journalists work diligently through the massive amount of fake and misleading content they monitor and the multitude of contexts and issues they cover. Having worked with newsrooms in Latin America that are small and big in size, address multiple contexts and issues, here are a few reflections that I would like to share:
Haramoun Hamieh, Program Manager, North Africa Western Asia
In 2020 and 2021, the world witnessed an unprecedented online infodemic directly linked to the COVID-19 pandemic. The infodemic caused multiple waves of misleading information that further contributed to the spread of the disease and a sense of panic among communities, especially in countries suffering from weak media ecosystems and severe political and economic turmoil.
To tackle this problem, the NAWA Newsroom and Investigative Fund teamed up with researchers and journalism students to launch an initiative that specialized in monitoring COVID-related misinformation and disinformation in the region. The Media Credibility Index was born. Developed in collaboration with 5 NAWA newsroom students after receiving specialized training, the Media Credibility Index aims to assess the credibility of news websites in Syria, Yemen and Lebanon. NAWA newsroom students monitored 626 news websites, focusing on analyzing the content of the most viewed websites through an open source investigation, while taking into account algorithmic bias and business models. An interactive map was published along with a major report on the state of media and misinformation during the pandemic in Lebanon, Syria and Yemen.
In 2022, the team expects to expand the credibility index, covering more countries in the region and evaluating the credibility of more media organizations.
Sneha Alexander, Program Associate, Asia Pacific region Shalini Joshi, Program Director, Network and Training
Our Check Global partner Taiwan FactCheck Center (TFC) is committed to producing high-quality fact-checks in the fight against misinformation, as well as to spreading media literacy since its launch in 2018.
Some reflections from our work with TFC:
Read our blogpost sharing insights and a message from Summer Chen, Editor in Chief at Taiwan FactCheck Center, on International fact-checking day.
Megan Marrelli, Senior Program Manager
Meedan’s Digital Health Lab works with partners around the world on supporting safer and more responsible engagement with information online. Our training, policy support, and information product Health Desk are in service of large international newsrooms, local community radio stations, and innovative communicators of critical health information. For international fact-checking day we’re highlighting the work of our partner Tayo Help Desk.
Tayo is a virtual help desk on COVID-19 for the Filipino community, driven by the Filipino Young Leaders Program (FYLPRO). The organization focuses on generating culturally tailored content to proactively combat misinformation through storytelling, visuals and videos.
Some examples:
Tayo is about to launch a call center geared towards Filipino seniors this spring, an initiative that launched after discovering a need to serve readers who would prefer to speak to someone for their COVID-19 questions.
We’re so excited to continue partnering with this organization on health and science communications.